


Family Secrets

by melannen



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, The X-Files
Genre: Crossover, Dragons, Epistolary, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-02-24
Updated: 2005-02-24
Packaged: 2017-10-04 03:28:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melannen/pseuds/melannen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where were Scully's brothers during all of that, anyway?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> Set probably sometime late during XF S8.

They were spending a lazy Sunday at Maggie Scully's, something that happened so rarely that Mulder allowed himself the luxury of simply leaning back and watching Scully be quietly happy for once, her hands folded over her belly. Mrs. Scully had gone out to get the mail, and he heard the door shut as she came back in, looking very happy at a large, cream-colored envelope she'd pulled out of the stack of business letters.

"Anything good, Mom?" Scully asked, barely looking up from her magazine.

"Yes!" she said, lifting it up. "Finally, something from--" she stopped, glancing at Mulder, then exchanged a rapid series of glances with Scully that was almost close enough to his own language with her for Mulder to translate. Whatever the argument, Mrs. Scully lost, because she sighed, and finished, "From your brother. But I'll open it later, I think lunch is almost ready. Why don't you check on the soup, Fox?"

Mulder was perfectly capable of recognizing a clumsy evasion when he saw one-- he'd certainly got enough of that from his own mother-- but he took the opportunity to work out just what was going on. He waited until the food was on the table to ask, "So, what's the news from Charlie?"

Scully and her mother both jerked their heads up at him, then looked at each other. Mulder grinned cheekily. "What, do you think I had the highest solve rate in the Bureau just because of my good taste in partners? I've met every member of your wonderful family, Scully, for better or for worse, except for the mysterious Charlie. It wasn't that hard to figure out."

Scully gritted her teeth. "Mulder, do you ever think that sometimes people keep things secret for good reason?"

Mulder pouted at her. "No?"

Scully gave an explosive sigh, then threw her hands up. "Fine, fine. Where did you leave the mail, Mom? I'll read it out loud and we can have a nice family bonding experience."

"It's on the table in the family room. But are you sure, Dana?" Mrs. Scully asked. "If you haven't--"

"I didn't want to tell him, but you think I should, don't you?" she said, then called back from the living room, "And he's curious now, so he'll find out one way or another. I want it on record," she added as she came back in, cracking off the-- sealing wax?-- on the front of the envelope, "that I knew it was a bad idea from the beginning, but if Mulder really wants to know what's in this letter, he gets to hear it."

"Besides," she added, smiling a little as she sat back down, "I want to know the news, too." She pulled out a few sheets of stiff paper the same cream color as the envelope, unfolded them, and started reading. "`Dear Mom, Happy Mother's Day! I hope this gets to you, there have been some problems with overseas mail through the winter, which is why I haven't written to you as often as I'd like--'"

Mrs. Scully nodded. "I'm not surprised the mail has problems, expecting those poor things to cross a whole ocean like that. I don't know why they still use them--"

Scully raised an eyebrow. "I think they do the job perfectly well, and he's just using it as an excuse for being too lazy to write. Anyway, he goes on `--things at the Reserve are going quite well. Paul says Hi, and Octavian says Hi, and has my cute sister married that loser she was shacked up with, or is she available now, but don't put it that way to her, please--'" Scully grinned and caught Mulder's eye, he shrugged helplessly.

Mrs. Scully laughed. "Go on, Dana."

"Genevieve's latest clutch finally hatched, and we're all running about like basilisks with a rooster loose in the lair, because it's obvious they're mongrels. One of the Ridgebacks must have got into her enclosure somehow, but we're completely stumped. Julia says he teleported, it's the only possible way, but I told her she's been reading to many Anne McCaffrey novels. Maybe I should ask Dana if she's run into any teleporters in her job.

"`Other than that, it's been mostly a lot of lab work. We finally convinced the ICW to fund a plain *scientific* study of the genetics involved. Tell Dana I'm completely in awe of her, it's dead boring work. I did get a nasty burn down my arm the other day trying to collect a rather delicate fluid sample from Fafnir the Green, it hurt like the dickens until Paul healed it up, so some things haven't changed. The weather's been nice and the political situation is suprisingly quiet, no shady conspiracies or mysterious shapeshifters in my parts lately, anyway. Tell Dana I miss her and I can't wait to meet Will and his father someday (soon I hope), and tell Bill I agree about the ponytail, it might do wonders for his attitude. I love you, your son, Charlie." She folded the letter back up and passed it to her mother. "Ponytail, Mom?" she asked.

Mrs. Scully shrugged as she opened the letter and started scanning it over. "Tara started it, not me. Matt's almost old enough to be reading the books now, you know."

Scully laughed. "I can't say I don't like the idea, but he *is* in the Navy--"

"He'll be retired eventually, dear."

Mulder gave up. "I give up. Where is Charlie, and what is he doing?"

"He's in Romania," Scully said, as if that should have been obvious.

"Studying dragons," Mrs. Scully added.


End file.
